"But with the crystallography and X-ray techniques we use, we are able to get about 10,000 times the resolution of the normal light microscope," explained Dave Stuart, the life sciences director at Diamond and a professor of structural biology at Oxford University.

"This takes us from the regime of not being able to see them to being able to see individual atoms.

"And if we can look at 'live' viruses and get an atomic-level description of them, it opens up the possibility of using modern drug-design techniques to produce new pharmaceuticals."